The advantage of living in Germany.

 

We can do that here in Canada too, but only for a few seconds, then we hit a snow bank backwards. No, about 70 to 80 MPH is it over here.

 

What does the green triangle icon in the middle mean?

 

Yeah, but for how long ? My experience on holiday last year is that a lot of autobahnen are now limited to 130 kph like most of the rest of Europe.

 

The car's about to blow!!!!!! Just kidding......

 

You're the man! Are you in dynamic mode or is your speedometer just on fire?

 

Sweet. Wish I could get that central KM/h display on mine. Seems in the UK Jaguar think we never travel abroad and would find that useful

 

AAC Forward Alert active

 

WOW, that's very fast
Still, be very warry and vigilant and make sure your tire pressure is up to these speeds

 

I thought all cars were electronically limited to 155???

 

I believe cars have to be limited to their rated tire speed. Y= 186 MPH, however they must be inflated somewhat higher than normal to operate safely at that speed.

 

That is impressive.

Who took the picture?

 

The 2011 XJ SC is limited to 155 MPH from the factory, but I believe ExpatJag had this defeated on his--it's a programming thing. If you order the Sport & Speed Pack on a 2012 the limit is raised to 174 MPH from the factory.

 

To answer some questions. Yes the autobahn has imposed a lot of speed limits but unlike the U.S. no one cares because there are little to no highway cops. My 20 min ride on the Autobahn to work has a 120kph speed limit and nobody follows that. I am usually driving 110-130mph going to work. As far as how long that really depends on traffic. Heading to Frankfurt Airport from where I live is typically an hour drive. I can normally do it in 30-45 mins depending on traffic. When I drove to Hamburg which is normally a 4 1/2 to 5 hour drive I did it in 4 hours and was driving at that speed for at least an hour. The biggest issue with that is if you are in Sport Mode you drink gas like its nobody's business. A full tank of gas will only get me 250 miles if I am lucky. And if you are driving at those speeds luck is not a friend of yours. The great thing about this car is that once it reaches 160mph(I still have my limiter on) everything just smooths out. Its so uncanny. I am normally in dynamic/sports mode at that speed to control body roll but the car will drive just as nice at that speed in regular mode. But it feels a whole lot safer taking corners at that speed in sports mode. Probably because its a stiffer ride. I assume the limiter kicks in at 160mph instead of 155mph is due to speedometer error which you wouldn't think would happen with a digital speedometer but I think it does. My car is US spec so whatever my speedometer looks like should display the same on any US car. Tire pressure is always checked and is very important when driving at that speed. But you would be surprise how much of a norm it is here especially when you hit a no speed limit area. Most German cars don't have speed limiters so you will see Audi station wagons, Q5 and ML 500 Suv driving at those speeds. I was just saying to a friend of mine yesterday that only here in Germany could you even think of going 130mph in the rain at night which I had done the night before. I don't know how they make their roads but they make them well. My friend took the picture with my iPhone. Driving at those speeds you not only have to drive miles in front of you, you also have to be able to predict what the person in the next lane in front of you is going to do. Some people are not able to gauge your speed and will pull in front of you doing 100 and braking from 160 to 90 in a matter of seconds will make a man out of you. Lol

 

Haha. dynamic/sports mode my man.

 

OK when you cross the border into Germany, this is what you're greeted with;



50kmh in towns, 100kmh on A roads (non-autobahn) and 130kmh on Autobahns.

A lot the Autobahns are limited to 100kmh, or 120kmh, and are signposted accordingly.

What you need to see is one of these;



Might be empty like above, or might have 100 or 120 inside the circle.

This means the lower limits have been removed, and the "recommended speed" is 130kmh. Auf Deutsch; "empfohlene Richtgeschwindigkeit". As said it's a recommendation, not enforceable. That's why it's in blue, rather than a red circle.

You cannot be issued a ticket for speeding in these zones, however Police can and will stop you if you are driving dangerously or aggressively; for example tailgating, flashing your lights, etc. You are allowed to speed, but you must do it sensibly and with respect to other road users.

You very rarely see a police car on the Autobahn, so unfortunately a lot of the jerks who do drive dangerously get away with it.

One last point; if you crash above 130kmh, your insurance is usually null and void. If you survive a crash above those speeds, you will recieve an invoice for;

- Costs to repair damage to the road and other infrastructure
- Costs to remove what's left of your car from the road

The ADAC will also send you an invoice for helicopter &/or ambulance services if you are not a member.

And finally the Police will likely charge you with dangerous driving or the like.

Sooo....feel free to drive as fast as you want, so long as you do it with style, and do not crash!

 

I have ADAC Plus and USAA so that's not an issue and if you crash above those speeds you have bigger problems than paying for the road way. Germany charges you for everything anyways. When my engine went out I had to pay for the oil clean up that happened on the roadway. But Jaguar is suppose to be reimbursing me. And in the area I live while there are speed limits there are a lot of no speed limit areas as well. And to their credit most drivers doing less than 130 kph stay in the right lane or will get over when they see faster oncoming traffic and people have gotten past the flashing light thing by turning on their left blinker. Now with all that said you should remain vigilant regardless of the speed you are driving. American speeds come no where close to German speeds and America have a lot more accidents in relation to cars on the road than Germany partly because Germans are better trained drivers. They all must take a driving course to get their license which cost them anywhere from 1200 to 2000 euro.

 

Oh and I just asked my neighbor you have to pay for road damages regardless of the speed you are going.

 

Do you recall what RPM's were you pulling at that speed?

 

I think around 5400.